Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Terri Schiavo’s Brother on Charlie Gard: Why Do Judges and Bureaucrats Decide if He Lives or Dies (They Simply Should Not. Period)

Terri Schiavo’s Brother on Charlie Gard: Why Do Judges and Bureaucrats Decide if He Lives or Dies

 NATIONAL   STEVEN ERTELT   JUL 1, 2017   |   7:20PM    WASHINGTON, DC
The following is a statement from Terri Schiavo’s brother Bobby Schindler:
“Charlie Gard’s life is more valuable than British and European bureaucrats realize,” explains Bobby Schindler, President of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.
“The central issue of the Charlie Gard struggle,” continues Bobby Schindler, “is not about rationing, limited resources, or even life support. At issue is whether universal healthcare means that bureaucrats and judges will determine appropriate treatment, or whether parents like Charlie’s with the energy, finances, and physicians to care for their child will be allowed to do so.”
The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network has served more than 2,500 medically vulnerable patients and families. The Network been instrumental in similar parental rights cases, particularly the case of Jahi McMath who is now home with her family, and baby Joseph Maraachli who was ultimately allowed to die peacefully in his sleep from natural causes at home, surrounded by loved ones.
“We don’t need judges posing as anguished moral philosophers, weighing what makes a life worth living. We simply need them to rule on whether mothers and fathers have an inalienable right to care for their own children. Are we better off in a society where government officials are encouraged literally to separate loved ones from each other? Is it better for Charlie Gard to live and die at home with his family, or in a state institution?”
The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network upholds human dignity through service to the medically vulnerable. This mission is expressed by affirming essential qualities of human dignity, which include the right to food and water, the presumption of the will to live, due process rights for those facing denial of care, protection from euthanasia as a form of medicine, and access to rehabilitative care. Visit lifeandhope.com.


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70,000 March in Ireland to Support the 8th Amendment Banning Abortions (Wish it were an Amendment here in America) Someday)

70,000 March in Ireland to Support the 8th Amendment Banning Abortions

 INTERNATIONAL   SPUC   JUL 3, 2017   |   1:43PM    DUBLIN, IRELAND
At least 70,000 people took part in the All Ireland Rally for Life on Saturday.
The theme of this year’s march was “Save the 8th” – and record numbers turned out to defend the amendment to the Irish constitution, which defends the equal right to life of the mother and unborn baby.
The rally takes place every year, and alternates between Dublin and Belfast. 2017’s rally, in Dublin, is expected to be the last before the referendum on the amendment, recently announced by new Taoiseach Leo Varankar, takes place.

We will Save the 8th

“This is an incredible, powerful day, when massive crowds of ordinary people turned out to Save the 8th, to say no to abortion and yes to Life, to tell Leo Varadkar that he would lose this referendum on abortion, because the pro-life majority has arisen and will work night and day to Save the 8th,” said Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute. “We were expecting 50,000 but as the Rally moved through Dublin City, up to 80,000 people brought the city to a standstill as they joined in to Save the 8th.”

Too big to ignore

Like many pro-life marches, the media tried to downplay numbers, and some outlets tried to reduce it to “Pro Life and Pro Choice groups take part in opposing rallies in Dublin”. However, this year’s rally was so big that it was difficult to ignore. Outlets were forced to issue corrections acknowledging the numbers, and the Irish Independent conceded that “the pro-choice campaigners were significantly outnumbered”. RTE, the national broadcaster, covered the rally in an unusually balanced news segment. Scroll down to watch the video!
The Irish Times said the police had estimated the numbers as “between 10,000 and 20,000”. However, according to the Rally for Life, the Garda press office never gave any such figure. The highest figure given for the pro-choice demonstration is 200.

Inspiring speakers

The loudest cheers of the day were for Karen Gaffney, a leading international advocate for people with Down Syndrome who urged the crowd to Save the 8th to protect the right to life of “people like me”, and warned that in other countries, aggressive screening programs mean that up to 100% of people with Down Syndrome are being aborted. “We want to belong, don’t screen us out,” she said.
Vicky Wall from Every Life Counts moved many to tears as she spoke movingly about her daughter Líadán who was diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, Trisomy 18. “Liádán’s life was protected by the 8th amendment, she was given the respect as our daughter. Even though she had a life-limiting condition, she was loved and valued as much as her brother and sister. All she know was love.”
Other speakers included Carolyn O’Meara of Giannacare, Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life, Becky Kealy of Youth Defence and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce of March for Life UK.
The Rally for Life is organised by Life Institute, Youth Defence and Precious Life and is the biggest pro-life event held in the country every year.


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Tiny Edie Was Born So Prematurely Her Eyes Were Fused Shut, But She Beat the Odds to Survive

Tiny Edie Was Born So Prematurely Her Eyes Were Fused Shut, But She Beat the Odds to Survive

 INTERNATIONAL   MICAIAH BILGER   JUL 3, 2017   |   11:06AM    WASHINGTON, DC
Baby Edie Madoc-Jones experienced one miracle after another when she was born after just 23 weeks in the womb.
Doctors told her parents that she probably would not survive because she was born so prematurely, Wales Online reports. But last month, the tiny little girl from Wales was deemed well enough to go home from the hospital.
Nicola Madoc-Jones, Edie’s mother, said she panicked when, at 23 weeks of pregnancy, she began dilating. She said her doctors tried to put off her premature labor, and, for a few days, their efforts succeeded.
“While they were doing everything they could for us we were also being prepared for the worst: that if I went in to labour, our baby’s chances were very slim,” she told the news outlet. “And the worst part was knowing that, while she was still inside me, she was healthy and well. While they were telling me that she would probably die I could feel her moving.”
Just before Nicola reached the 24-week mark, her fears came true. She went into labor and gave birth to Edie.
The little girl was so small that her eyes were fused shut and her skin was transparent, according to the report. Doctors at the University Hospital of Wales continued to caution Nicola and her husband, David, that Edie may not survive.
“They told us that she was extremely weak and that her odds weren’t good,” her mother said. “But just as she went her leg moved. Among all the shock of the last few days, the horror of the delivery, and then the tragedy that we were now expecting to unfold that gave me the tiniest bit of hope.
“I felt sadness that was almost too overwhelming to bear. We’d spent hours sitting helplessly at Edie’s bedside, swinging between good days where nothing much happened and bad days when the alarms she was attached to rung constantly in our ears,” her mother continued.
Despite several near-death experiences, including surgeries, a brain bleed, an infection and a hole in her heart, Edie began to get better.
Here’s more from the report:
At 73 days old Edie was moved from intensive care to the high dependency unit.
And 11 days after that she underwent an operation to correct the growth of abnormal blood vessels in her eyes.
Despite a temporary setback she was well enough to go home with her mum and dad a short time later.
She reached her official due date on May 28 – at 116 days old.
Her family said she is home and doing well.
Edie’s life is a miracle, but she is just one of a growing number of babies who have survived after just 23 weeks in the womb.
Like Edie, British toddler Kalel Fitz was born after just 23 weeks in his mother’s womb, and doctors gave him a small chance of survival, according to The Daily Mail. His feet were so tiny that they measured just 1 inch long, and his weight was 1 pound, 8 ounces. He now is a toddler.
Twins Imogen and Annabelle Weir are another example. Born at 23 weeks in April 2016, they are believed to be the youngest and smallest twins to be born and survive in Scotland,according to the BBC.
These babies’ survival stories and a growing body of research are prompting doctors to reconsider the point of viability. Generally, 24 weeks has been accepted as the point when babies can survive outside the womb; however, studies have found more babies are surviving at 23 and even 22 weeks.
A study published in 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 23 percent of premature infants are surviving birth as early as 22 weeks.
Earlier this year, a study out of Duke University similarly found that more babies are surviving at the 23 week mark. The researchers found a “small but significant drop in fatalities for babies born between 23 and 37 weeks gestation,” as well as a decrease in premature babies manifesting with neurophysiological problems, the Daily Mail reported.


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